I know people are mocking Seattle. But we have gotten more snow in a day than we usually do in a year. It is a giant ice skating rink and the coldness bites your bones. We have two more snow storms and I am so over it. The sleep deprivation from the overnight at work has taken its toll. I am just hoping I can keep being positive at work. I think that is the hardest part– maintaining my sanity being so tired. (There is really only one person I want to push over in the snow and lock the doors!)

I am so tired I am waiting as long as I can to go to bed. A 7:00pm bedtime tonight? That seems okay to me! 7 days in a row of work… 4 more to go. I deserve an early bedtime!

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The sleep over at work has been so much fun. It was nice to be told it wouldn’t have been as fun if I weren’t around. I am glad I could provide some stress relief for the staff who sacrificed and stayed overnight. I work with such a great team! A coworker and her husband left for work early today so they could try and find breakfast for those of us who stayed.

Leave it to me to fall flat on my face in the snow. A coworker even caught the photographic evidence…. because if there isn’t a picture, it didn’t happen, right? (There is another of my face in the snow…)

Today I thought I would take a whack at starting up my Bullet Journal again. I have not touched one since the beginning of 2015. This has been a fun project so far!

If you haven’t heard about it, the Seattle area is experiencing a snow-ocalypse. My town is all HILLS. Every direction I go it has a hill making it near impossible to get anywhere, let alone out of my driveway. I work at a memory care facility as a life enrichment director and help provide care for these sweet seniors. We can’t just stay home for work. Many of us packed to spend the weekend at work knowing not everyone would make it. WAY TO BE PROACTIVE! I not only packed… I PACKED. On my day off I am currently sitting at the front desk making stickers for my planner watching the snowflakes fall. I think I packed enough supplies to get through spring in my planner. I am here for the long haul.

There is just something so stress relieving about doing creative things. I love that I now have the desire and time to do this again!

I really fell in love with planners and the art of making them my own a couple years ago. I have ALWAYS loved planners, writing things in notebooks, and making lists. I am one of those crazy people who will write something on my shopping list (at the store) just so I can cross it off. These past four years I have kind of lost my passions and hobbies. I was miserable (still am sometimes), gained weight during the commute (pre-commuting I would work out at the gym twice a day…), and was just not a happy person. It was hard having to put on a happy face, working a job where it was kind of required, when I was feeling so lost inside. Last April, I transferred to a community 1.3 miles away from my house. With years of commuting, I lost HOURS a day and lost all motivation to read, write, and plan. This past week I met a friend at the library and we PLANNED. It was great! It was amazing! It was stress-relieving. I am starting small again, but I am starting. It makes me happy! I have also read three books. I really can not tell you how long it has been since I read a book (maybe four years)! I really feel these little steps are helping me add some joy back into my life. It is a start.

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…3 to go. I love Christmas. I really do. I love the twinkling lights and the music. But putting up Christmas trees is a pain. I feel it is important for every neighborhood to have a Christmas tree. My residents deserve to see those twinkling lights in every room. They deserve to feel the magic of the season. So, this year I will smile while snapping together trees, while fluffing the branches, and while wrapping the lights.

I will be happy to do this for my oldies. This may be their last holiday season. They deserve the happiness.

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She is such a hard-working, dedicated, loving mother of 3 crazy, but super adorable children. When I was a commuter I had such huge amounts of guilt from being too tired to see family on days off. Huge amounts to the point that I would cry for hours on my days off because I felt horrible. That is truly no life to live. Working in Kent has been a blessing. I was able to surprise the kids at Ashlee’s volleyball game after work and spend the day with them today. I feel at peace when I am with my family.

How do you counteract those feelings of guilt? What are your go to coping mechanisms? Comment below. I would like to hear them!

Did you go Black Friday shopping? Every year I make one stop: Fred Meyer. I buy 5 pairs of boots and socks and call it good. My yearly boot shopping tradition makes me happy. My local store doesn’t always have my size. I think I only purchased one pair of boots this year that was my size. I will have to drive to the other Fred Meyer stores this next week on a hunt. When I commuted to work I would leave 2 hours earlier on my search.

Shoes make me happy. As my mom would say, “You need another pair of shoes like you need another hole in your head.”